


you're the first and last of your kind

by celestialfics



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Comfort, M/M, some emotions overflow, they try their best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 17:24:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7723267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialfics/pseuds/celestialfics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tadashi liked a lot of things, and Tsukishima Kei happened to be one of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you're the first and last of your kind

**Author's Note:**

> this was meant to be a dumb little drabble never to see the light of day and then some angst happened so here we are
> 
> title from "every other freckle" by alt-j !!

Yamaguchi Tadashi liked chiptune music and sweaters with animals on them and the idea of life outside of Earth’s grasp. He liked chewing on ice cubes and jumping into pools and watching birds hop from branch to branch in the trees. Tadashi liked eating popsicles on hot days, even if they melted and dripped on him, making his hands all sticky. He liked braiding hair and singing cheesy songs and wearing colorful shirts.

Tadashi liked a lot of things, and Tsukishima Kei happened to be one of them. Tadashi liked the way Tsukishima wore his headphones around his neck when they walked home and how he liked strawberry shortcake so much that he had it for every birthday and how he only listened to the alternative station on the radio. Tadashi liked how Tsukishima didn’t know that the tips of his ears turned red before his cheeks when he was embarrassed and Tadashi liked the way Tsukishima laughed when someone did something dumb.

Tadashi liked a whole lot of things about Tsukishima, but he didn’t like that Tsukishima was crying. Which, _what_.

Tsukishima wasn’t a crier. He was the type to release his feelings he insisted he didn’t have into volleyball or just suppress them, and Tadashi had been around him long enough to figure that out. Tsukishima had never _been_ a crier. And yet here he was, sitting in the corner of the clubroom after classes with his face buried in his knees. At first glance, the other team members probably wouldn’t have noticed he was crying, their minds instead opting for the more plausible options that he was sleeping or just “being Tsukishima, that strange kid”. Needless to say, Tadashi wasn’t one of the other team members.

What worried Tadashi the most besides the obvious _water leaking from his eyes_ part was just _where_ Tsukishima was crying. The clubroom left him vulnerable to many people that Tadashi was sure Tsukishima wouldn’t want to see him cry, and that meant that Tsukishima’s crying was so urgent that he curled up in the clubroom without thinking of any repercussions. Whatever had made Tsukishima cry was going to catch a whole lot of trouble from Tadashi as soon as he found out just what it was.

Standing dumbfounded in the clubroom doorway, Tadashi tried to think back to any situations similar to this that he had been in before. All he could come up with was the time he coaxed Yachi out of a crying fit when she’d accidentally stepped on a cat’s tail, but after he thought about that for a second more he realized that the situations weren’t similar at all. Yachi was not Tsukishima and Tsukishima was almost certainly not crying over stepping on an animal.

With a deep breath and a couple words of internal encouragement, Tadashi took a step towards his crying friend. Tsukishima sniffled a bit, but didn’t raise his head. Tadashi wasn’t entirely certain that Tsukishima had even noticed him yet, which in itself was worrying.

“Tsukki..?” Tadashi spoke softly and carefully as he sat on the floor a little ways from Tsukishima.

When Tsukishima did finally lift his head, Tadashi swore he could feel his heart splintering. Tsukishima had prior taken off his glasses and set them next to him on the floor, and skin around his eyes was irritated, red and puffy. He clenched his jaw, swallowing harshly and running a hand through his already rustled hair. A tear rolled down his cheek and Tsukishima wiped at it fiercely before looking Tadashi in the eyes.

Tadashi blinked at him, at a loss for words. Not a single thing came to his mind regarding what he could possibly say to make Tsukishima feel better in the slightest. Tsukishima’s eyes started to well again, though neither of the boys broke eye-contact.

“Do you want to go somewhere else?” Tadashi said the first question that came to his albeit jumbled thoughts. After all, their teammates were sure to be walking in any moment.

Tsukishima nodded slowly, grabbing his glasses and sliding them up the bridge of his nose. Tadashi had to keep _himself_ from crying as he looked again at Tsukishima’s raw cheeks and tousled hair. He didn’t even know what had made Tsukishima feel this way, but whatever it was twisted Tadashi’s heart in his chest. Standing up, Tadashi offered a hand to Tsukishima, the latter accepting and using Tadashi to help stand as well.

After standing, Tsukishima stood awkwardly with his arms at his side. Tadashi resisted the urge to wrap Tsukishima in a hug.

“C’mon, Tsukki,” Tadashi nudged the taller boy, setting a gentle hand on his shoulder and leading him forward.

They walked together, undisturbed, until they reached a park. _The_ park, Tadashi recalled, at which that they had met Hinata and Kageyama. Tadashi had a fleeting thought of the team, hoping Daichi wouldn’t be too angry at them for skipping practice. He wished it away; that was a problem for later.

He and Tsukishima ended up on the swingset, Tadashi swaying slightly on his swing while Tsukishima sat in place, his head still hung and his hands still wiping at his face.

“I don’t suppose you wanna talk about it, huh, Tsukki?” Tadashi spoke loudly enough for Tsukishima to hear but quietly enough for him to ignore if he chose so.

Tsukishima took a deep breath, though it hitched. “It’s—It’s dumb. Probably.”

Furrowing his eyebrows, Tadashi twisted his swing so that he faced his friend. “It’s not dumb.” The _if it made you cry_ hung understood in the air.

“I—uh,” Tsukishima hiccuped and hid his face behind his hand in response. “This is embarrassing.”

“It’s okay, Tsukki,” Tadashi assured, “We’re the only ones here.”

“Even you,” Tsukishima forced a teary smile, but Tadashi couldn’t return the gesture. It was almost as if Tsukishima was laughing at himself. “It’s embarrassing—even in front of you.”

“Oh,” Tadashi breathed, a frown tugging at his lips. “Sorry—”

“No,” Tsukishima interrupted, but didn’t say anything to follow up.

“Okay,” he sighed, though continued shortly after, “What happened, Tsukki?”

“My…” Tsukishima grabbed ahold of the frayed cord hanging off of his headphones. “My headphones broke and I just—” He hiccuped again, another tear running down his face.

“Oh. Oh, Tsukki.” Tadashi’s frown deepened, his foot dragging in the dirt underneath him. “We can always buy you new ones.”

“I don’t—I don’t want new ones,” he replied while biting his bottom lip and staring at the frayed cord that he held pinched between his index finger and thumb.

“We can fix the cord?” Tadashi suggested carefully, watching as Tsukishima angrily flicked the cord away from himself, bringing his arm up to, again, wipe tears from his cheeks. Tadashi himself was tempted to cup Tsukishima’s face in his hands and wipe away his tears with his thumbs, but he figured Tsukishima wouldn’t like that. And he definitely didn’t want Tsukishima to be more uncomfortable than he already was, so Tadashi stayed a safe distance away on his swing.

“You don’t _understand_.” Tsukishima swallowed thickly. “It’s not really the dumb headphones.”

“It’s not?”

He was right, Tadashi didn’t understand. Sometimes, Tadashi thought he knew Tsukishima well; he thought that he could read his movements and interpret his words better than anyone else, and maybe that was true. But, in the end, Tsukishima always had a way to throw Tadashi for a loop.

“It is. But it isn’t.” Tsukishima gritted his teeth.

Tadashi wasn’t sure he was following, but he nodded anyway. Tsukishima wasn’t great with words unless they were offensive in some way, and feelings were definitely not his forte.

“The headphones broke because I snagged them on something, but I don’t know what,” Tsukishima started, his voice wavering only slightly. “And I didn’t even notice at first—that I was… crying. I don’t really know why I started.”

Tadashi could see that Tsukishima had already started to calm down just by talking to him, at least trying to convey his feelings.

“That’s okay,” Tadashi responded with a light, close-lipped smile, prompting Tsukishima to continue.

“Once I started, I couldn’t stop,” he sighed, “It’s… pathetic, really.”

Tadashi almost winced at his choice of words.

“I haven’t actually cried in a… long time. I think that’s partly why. God, this is embarrassing.” Tsukishima dragged the pads of his fingers underneath his eyes, ridding his cheeks of what Tadashi hoped were the final tears.

“It’s okay to cry, Tsukki.” Tadashi started to swing a bit as a slight distraction, kicking his legs up to gain momentum. “I know you dislike the entire concept of _emotions_ , but you still have them.”

Tsukishima’s eyes followed Tadashi as he swung back and forth.

“I think your headphones breaking just opened the floodgate,” Tadashi let out a little chuckle, using his words where Tsukishima failed to find his own. “And I’m kind of glad. Not to see you cry, of course! You’re just really observant and things are bound to affect you in different ways, but you shouldn’t… internalize everything, you know?” As Tadashi spoke, he watched his feet continuously kick a bit higher into the air. “It’s alright to show when you’re happy or sad or… somewhere in between.”

Tsukishima cleared his throat and pushed up his glasses before speaking: “I think I love you.”

Immediately digging his heels into the dirt to stop his momentum, Tadashi whipped his head to looked over to Tsukishima with wide eyes and his jaw agape. “I—uh, what? _What?_ ”

“You heard me.” Tsukishima shied away from meeting Tadashi’s surprised gaze, but Tadashi could see the tip of his ear turning red.

“Tsukki! You can’t just—what!”

“ _You_ told me not to internalize,” Tsukishima looked pointedly over at Tadashi, but broke the eye-contact after a fleeting moment.

It wasn’t like this was exactly breaking news. Tadashi knew that Tsukishima loved him, he’d always known, really, but they’d just kind of understood that they didn’t need to say it. They _knew_. But Tsukishima had _said_ it, and Tadashi didn’t know that would make his heart burst.

“You’re a big idiot, you know,” Tadashi scowled, finally standing from his swing and walking the couple of steps over to Tsukishima. Tadashi leaned down and grasped Tsukishima’s hand from where it hung at his side, pulling him up and off of the swing. “But, I think I love you, too.”

Tsukishima’s mouth parted slightly, but before he could say anything, Tadashi laced their fingers together and started towards home.

Yamaguchi Tadashi loved soft french fries and comfortable shoes and petting fluffy dogs. He loved sunny days and warm nights and the way his mom rubbed her thumbs into his back when they hugged. He loved the feeling that flowed through him after a service ace, even if his heart jumped in his chest before the ball hit the other side of the court. He loved pink sunsets and finishing long books and hugging his teammates when they won a match.

Tadashi loved a lot of things, and Tsukishima Kei happened to be one of them.


End file.
